PETALING JAYA: Police have arrested two people in connection with the seizure of 1.16 tonnes of ketamine from a tanker off Tanjung Balai Asahan in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, including the vessel's owner.
Bukit Aman's narcotics criminal investigation department said the ship owner was a director of Makmur Marine Petroleum Sdn Bhd while the other suspect was an agent involved in the recent sale of the vessel.
The department's director, Hussein Omar Khan, said preliminary investigations found that the tanker was purchased in April for refurbishment and subsequent resale at a profit.
"On June 28, the ship MT Global 168 was sold to Golden Dolphin Co Ltd, which is based in Yangon, Myanmar, through the agent/broker.
"Both suspects have been remanded until Nov 1 to assist in investigations. We are also looking for three other foreigners from Singapore, Taiwan and Myanmar to assist in the probe," he said in a statement.
The 57m tanker, identified by the transponder name Global 168, was sailing under the Mongolian flag.
It had departed from Johor and made a stop in Port Klang, Selangor, before travelling to the Andaman Sea, where police suspect a ship-to-ship transfer of the drugs was made.
The vessel’s automatic identification system is believed to have been switched off for three days, and its movements were deemed suspicious.
Indonesian authorities found 1,160 packages of ketamine, weighing a total of 1.16 tonnes, concealed in 58 sacks on board. Eight crew members were detained, comprising seven Indonesians aged between 25 and 71, and a 42-year-old Chinese national.